Yarnilicious

Every now & then I need to update my custom monkey yarn colors. I don't want my monkeys to get boring so I add new ones, stop using certain colors & so on. I've rephotographed my yarns & here's what I came up with...


These yarns make pretty photos, don't they? Perhaps I should print them and hang them in my sewing room for inspiration.

I've added lots of new colors and only discontinued a few. I now have 29 color choices in the shop (the monkey shop, that is)! Oh my gosh. Now I need to come up with a good way to keep them organized.

Packing and Shipping

While taking the photo for this week's On My Desk, I thought it might be a good time to show you how I pack my orders and try to stay organized.

Here's a look at some monkeys getting ready to move to their new homes. I generally try to ship several orders at once. I like to lay out all the bits & pieces I'll need before I get started.

I got a set of drawer organizers at Target to hold my labels, tags, business cards & such. This is much easier than grabbing things one at a time from my shipping supply drawer. Now I just pull out the tray and everything's right there. For each order I need a business card with a pinback button, a little tag with a handwritten thank you note, a return address label and a shipping label (I keep those ina drawer near my computer). It's quite a lot of work to send those packages out the door looking nice.

I use kraft tissue from ULINE to wrap my monkeys and baker's twine to tie them up. I also get my padded envelopes from ULINE, they ship really fast.

I print all of my own labels and tags myself. This is easy for me because I design my own graphics. I use 8.5x11" sheets of sticker paper from Avery to make my address and shipping labels & recycling stickers too. Check out the Avery website, you can design and print your own stuff online. The only thing I don't print or make myself is my business cards and pinback buttons (I let the professionals handle those items). I keep all this stuff in a small dresser in my sewing room. I got some inexpensive sleeves to help me separate everything. One for iSew, one for Monkey Travel Club and one for my fun colored papers.

My punches & tools live in a plastic shoebox that's stored in a cabinet under my cutting table. (How do you like my girly pliers? haha) I have my own set of tools, that ensures they stay clean (and where they belong!).

I've started to make some little gift tags to include with my Etsy orders. I try to buy paper that's fairly generic (although I couldn't resist those Chrismas trees). I've got some for every day orders too. I find the paper punch works better on heavier papers.

So now you know all of my secrets. Enjoy!

On My Market Table ... The Extended Version

I had a farmer's market yesterday. It was 100 degrees when I left at 1:30. I thought I was going to pass out. Luckily I had an iced coffee and a gallon of water. Phew! Heat is not my favorite.

Last weekend, when we stayed at my friend Larry's house, I found this wonderful surprise waiting for me. Larry's wife Janace works for Stampin' Up. She saw this set in the catalog and somehow knew that I would like it. Yep, she was right. Whenever I go to their house I look through that catalog about 4 times. I love that stuff and I'm not a scrapbooker. Wait till you see what I ordered, teehee. (Thanks Janace!)

And when we got home I found 3 boxes waiting for me. One was this lovely little travel pillow that Jenn recommended.

It's so pretty, isn't it? I love the colors and the lavender scent is so yummy. I got it from Mireio on Etsy. She's got some more pillows in her shop if you're interested. I'll be using mine on the 11 hour flight to London in a few weeks.

If you're wondering what was in the other two boxes, umm, it was fabric. Surprise! I know, I know, it's an addiction. I haven't taken any photos yet, but I did use some.

I'll be able to add a new quilt to the shop soon.

A Long Weekend

This weekend we headed south to Orange County. It's a long, boring drive, so we took the scenic route on the way down.

We were lucky, it was a gorgeous day. It can be very grey along this part of the California coast.

We stayed at the Cambria Pines Lodge and had a quick walk through the gardens before continuing our journey.

Good thing I remembered that fabric shop in Buellton. It was so packed with goodies, even Nick enjoyed it. All the fabric is $5 a yard so I had to get some.

Remember those blocks I was working on last week? Here's the reason I made them and the reason we went on the trip. Mark is one! It was great to see him walking and smiling. What a cutie! (I think he liked his blocks too.) If you'd like to see a better shot of the blocks, click here.

We also stopped at an old favorite shop of mine on Saturday. I was surprised and delighted to see that Material Possessions is now carrying some Japanese fabrics. I picked up a few.

In the end it was a great trip and we're so glad to be home. The kitties are pretty glad too. We'll be home for 3 weeks now & then it's off to the UK for our wedding reception. phew, I'm worn out already.